Compassion Essays - Happiness, Personal Development, Human Behavior

Compassion Compassion It is the one mysterious thing that links everyone together and helps everyone understand each other despite their social, economic, or religious backgrounds. Compassion is the capacity within each of us that makes it possible for suffering that is not our own or of our concern, but will affect us as though it were. There are so many ways to describe the feelings that can be linked with compassion. In some way, shape or form, we have all given or received compassion, and it is important to always be compassionate no matter what the circumstance. I think it is vital to everyone that they live compassionately because it will also tune them into how others feel and they can all communicate and understand each other better. In addition to the statement that everyone should always be compassionate, I feel as though it is not wrong to not act compassionately sometimes. In fact, in some points of people's lives, it is uncontrollable for them to not feel compassionate. Being compassionate is a human instinct, and in that I feel as though if someone is not compassionate it is absolutely acceptable based on where they are in their lives in that point of time. Compassion is the hallmark of the soul, and it does not become practical in the survival of the fittest until a person has reached the highest levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs; self-actualization. In general, we do not always feel the need to extend our compassion to others, in most cases because we do not think they deserve it, or because we do not feel as though we are able to afford to help in any way possible. I think everyone deserves compassion, and that no one should be the judge to whether the other person actually deserve it or not. It becomes a matter of if the person is in the state of mind in which they can be compassionate. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs explains when a person is at the level to which they may usually act compassionately. It is based upon several levels of needs in which a person lives by instinctively. The first level would be to live with physiological needs, which includes "breathing, food, water, sex, homeostasis, and excretion." (Kenrick). The next level would be safety in which we seek security of our "body, employment, resources, morality, family, health and property." (Kenrick). Then is the need of love and belonging through family, friendship and sexual intimacy, followed by esteem which entails the need of self-esteem, confidence, achievement, and respect. Lastly is self-actualization; the need of "morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts." (Kenrick). With the knowledge of Maslow's theory I think it should be simple to understand that if we are lacking something very essential in our needs, we aren't always going to find it in ourselves to be compassionate for others, even after receiving compassion. For example, when I see a homeless person I am always indecisive to whether or not I can feel or act compassion towards them. I know that I should always be compassionate, but as a human being, I am not always perfect in my way of thinking or through my actions. I try and be compassionate, but sometimes when I see the homeless person asking for money my first instinct is not always to reach into my pocket and give them money. When it comes to those times where I do not reach in my pocket, it is probably because I do not feel financially stable, which is the physiological level for me still needing the money for food, and in that lack a sense of my needs of self-actualization. It is my instinct to take care of me first before others in that split second where I decide if I am going to act compassionately or not. Compassion is being connected with someone else, not always to suffer, but to suspend all judgments and live at that instant with them and be in sync with their emotions. Compassion can also mean to be happy with someone as they won a contest, achieved a goal or tell you about something they have recovered from. When